OL97: Can't Open Word Attachments with Custom Extensions (191236)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 97
This article was previously published under Q191236

SYMPTOMS

You are using Microsoft Word and commonly save documents with custom extensions other than the default extension of .doc. When you send these documents as attachments in a mail message using Microsoft Outlook 97, you discover that the recipient is unable to open them directly from the mail message.

Although the Word documents with the custom extension will open directly on the computer where they were created and saved, attempts to open them as an attachment will result in the following error:
The file, <TEMP directory path to the attached file>, does not have a program associated with it. For this action. To create an association, double-click My Computer on your desktop. On the View menu, click Options, and then Click File Types.
This behavior occurs in Outlook running on both Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98.

CAUSE

The custom extension is not registered with the operating system.

RESOLUTION

There are two methods you can use to successfully open the Word files with custom extensions:
  • Save the documents to a location on the hard drive and then open them in Word.
  • Create an association for the custom extension on the computer that receives the Word document.

MORE INFORMATION

To save an attachment from a mail message, follow these steps:
  1. Right-click the attachment icon in the mail message and then click Save As on the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Save Attachment dialog box, select a location to save the file and then click Save.

To Create a File Association

To create a file association for the custom file extension, follow these steps:
  1. On the Windows desktop, double-click My Computer. On the View menu, click Options.
  2. On the File Types tab, click New Type.
  3. In Description Of Type, type a short description of the new association. This may describe your use for the custom extension, such as a special project you wish to have identified by the file extension.
  4. In Associated Extension, enter the new extension label using the three character convention. For example, if the extension is for Word documents used in a sales proposal, you might use the extension, ".spr" for this document type.
  5. In Content Type (MIME) click to select "application/msword" to associate Word with the custom extension. In Default Extension for Content Type, click to select the extension entered in Step 4.
  6. Click New. In the Action box, type Opens. Click Browse to select Word as the "Application used to perform action." Navigate to the folder where Word is installed. The default is:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\winword.exe

    Click Winword.exe and then click Open.
  7. You must now restart your computer to have the new association recognized.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/26/2000
Keywords:kbinterop kbprb KB191236
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.